From Istanbul to Wall Street Bull. When Ahmet OkumilS was sixteen years old, he visited the trading floor of the recently opened Istanbul Stock Exchange and was mesmerized. He was fascinated by trading, which on the Istanbul exchange resembled speculating far more closely than investing. | AHMET OKUMUS From Istanbul to Wall Street Bull When Ahmet OkumilS was sixteen years old he visited the trading floor of the recently opened Istanbul Stock Exchange and was mesmerized. He was fascinated by trading which on the Istanbul exchange resembled speculating far more closely than investing. It wasn t long before his initial enthusiasm became an obsession and he began cutting classes regularly to trade stocks on the exchange. Okumus knew that he wanted to become a money manager and realized that the country that offered the greatest opportunity for achieving his goal was the United States. In 1989 he immigrated to the United States ostensibly to attend college but with the firm conviction that this was just a stepping-stone to his true career objective. Using a 15 000 stake from his mother Okumus began trading . stocks in 1992. This original investment had mushroomed to over 6 million by early 2000 an average annual compounded return of 107 gross returns . In 1997 he launched his first hedge fund the Okumus Opportunity Fund. I interviewed Okumus at his Manhattan office a distinctly unimpressive space. Coming off the elevator I was greeted by a receptionist who did not work for Okumus but who clearly was shared by all the tenants on the floor. Okumus s office was small badly in need of a paint job and outfitted with ugly furniture. The single window offered little visual relief providing a claustrophobic view of the side of the adjacent building. The office had one redeeming feature it was cheap actually free a perk for commission business . Okumus is evidently proud of this. Talking about how he got great deals on everything from his office space to 148 FROM ISTANBUL TO WA his accountant he says It s my nature. I love to get good deals. I don t pay up. It is a comment that is equally fitting as a description of his trading philosophy. At the time of my interview Okumus shared his small office with his college buddy Ted Coakley III whom he brought in to do
